Productions of Mozart's operas, such as this 2012 "Don Giovanni" at Keller Auditorium, will move to the more intimate Newmark Theatre when Portland Opera changes to a festival format in 2016.

(Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian.)

Portland Opera is planning to undergo the biggest change in its 50-year history. Beginning in 2016, the company will perform its entire season in a compressed, 12-week summer period.

The change, revealed as the curtain is about to rise on Portland Opera's 50th season, is an attempt to stabilize the company after years of fluctuating finances. And it will affect all aspects of the organization, from audience experience to casting, marketing, production and budgets.

While it's not a Hail Mary, it is a dramatic change, signaling the company's adapt-or-die attitude. In the past two years, several opera companies have folded, including New York City Opera, but no summer opera festival, such as Santa Fe, St. Louis or Glimmerglass, has closed.

"Among all our opera companies, the festivals have generally, over the past decade, fared better than our traditional companies," said Marc Scorca, president of Opera America, a national service organization based in New York.

"We want to be proactive," said Christopher Mattaliano, Portland Opera's general director. "We want to avoid death by a thousand paper cuts."

Two years in the planning, the move to a summer, or festival-style, season will split productions between the opera-unfriendly, 3,000-seat Keller Auditorium and the opera-appropriate 900-seat Newmark Theatre.

A compressed season saves the company between $400,000 and $500,000, about 8 percent of its budget, Mattaliano said. Fewer productions in the high-rent Keller and lower costs in the Newmark make financial sense, he said.

Each season, the company will perform two popular works, such as "Carmen" or "Madame Butterfly," in the Keller, and two or three operas in the Newmark by the likes of Mozart, Baroque composers such as Handel, bel canto composers such as Bellini and Donizetti, or contemporary works.

Compressing the season intensifies the experience for audiences, Scorca said. "There's more coverage leading up to it and operas are reviewed in quick succession. People go more frequently and they are talking about it more. There are often additional cultural activities, at galleries and museums. People buy into a larger cultural experience than just going to the opera on a Wednesday night in March."

Portland's new opera season won't be like binge-watching, exactly, but two productions will overlap. Keller productions will run separately, but Newmark operas will open two weeks apart and audiences will have two opportunities to see them on consecutive days. Outdoor simulcast screenings, collaborations with the Portland Art Museum, lectures and post-performance cabaret shows will add to the festival feeling, Mattaliano said. The company will also market packages to summer tourists.

Mattaliano will announce the inaugural season in 2016, but he said audiences could expect operas by Mozart, Rossini and "a 19th-century Russian classic."

Not only is it too big, artistically, but it's also a challenge to fill the house. A snowstorm during a run of "Lucia di Lammermoor" last February "decimated" sales, Mattaliano said. "We want to reduce the volatility of the Keller."

While the Oregon Symphony takes summers off, June and July are busy months for vocal music in Oregon, with Chamber Music Northwest, the Oregon Bach Festival — with its increasing presence in Portland — and the opera-heavy Astoria Music Festival.

One unknown, though, is whether Portlanders will quit hiking, boating, camping and cycling long enough to come indoors. This season will be a test run with two operas, Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress" and Donizetti's "The Elixir of Love," appearing next June and July.

Mattaliano isn't worried, he said. "People fill the Keller for our Broadway shows in August. We may start later, like 8 p.m."

The summer season will not conflict with the company's lucrative Broadway series of six to eight touring shows in the Keller because June and July are typically quiet. Expect to see more Broadway shows booked for September through April.

Mattaliano has had no discussions about using the Oregon Symphony for opera performances, he said. Portland Opera has its own unionized orchestra. The number of performances will actually increase, giving paid choristers, orchestra players and technical crewmembers more work. Some employees will see less work. The company will continue with its three union agreements, Mattaliano said.

Challenges still lie ahead, Scorca said. "The company is not in the public eye during the months it is not in the festival. You're doing two productions at once with more artists, more rehearsals. There are a lot of factors."

Mattaliano hopes to keep opera on the city's radar during the dark months — and earn money — by adding Broadway shows and creating community events, such as the successful Opera on Screen film screenings at OMSI.

Scorca declined to say if he thought the move was a good one, but said, "I know they've studied it extensively. They've been thorough about it, so I trust their idea."

Major donors have been supportive of the change, said board chair David O'Brien. He said they've told him, "If you're going to change, change big."

"The past two years have been soul-searching," Mattaliano added. "This is not a slam dunk, but the biggest risk is not to change."